West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
Here’s where the pandemic stands tonight, locally:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here are the cumulative totals from Public Health‘s daily-summary dashboard:
*98,504 people have tested positive, 409 more than yesterday’s total
*1,526 people have died, 1 more than yesterday’s total
*5,853 people have been hospitalized, 26 more than yesterday’s total
*1,039,969 people have been tested, 1,678 more than yesterday’s total
ONE WEEK AGO: Last Saturday, those numbers were 95,878/1,503/5,664/1,024,410.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 151.1 million people have tested positive, and more than 3,192,000 people have died; U.S. deaths exceed 576,000. Most cases: U.S., India, Brazil, France, Turkey (which passed Russia this week). See the breakdown, nation by nation, here.
VACCINATION SITUATION: The city has been taking walk-ups but still advises appointments, and has plenty of them, including the West Seattle hub (2801 SW Thistle) – go here. … If you can’t get to a vaccination site because you are mobility-challenged, you may be eligible for a vaccinator to come to you.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
This is the second weekend the West Seattle Water Taxi has been on its spring/summer schedule, which adds not only Saturday and Sunday runs, but also weekday midday service. Last year, because of the pandemic, the WT never moved to the spring/summer schedule, and for months ran on a scaled-back timetable. A reader contemplating giving it a try recently asked us if it’s crowded. We noticed the Water Taxi website didn’t have updated ridership stats, so we asked King County Metro – which manages the WT – for an update. Spokesperson Al Sanders provided these numbers
2021 – first week of summer [service] = Monday-Sunday
4/19 – 386
4/20 – 484
4/21 – 477
4/22 – 357
4/23 – 603
4/24 – 364
4/25 – 3842020 – for comparison – Monday-Friday
4/20 – 62
4/21 – 34
4/22 – 40
4/23 – 32
4/24 – 18
4/25 and 4/26 – no service
The vessels are still running at limited capacity for distancing; Sanders says that’s 153 passengers for the West Seattle run’s regular boat M/V Doc Maynard and its twin on the Vashon run, M/V Sally Fox; 57 for the backup boat M/V Spirit of Kingston. Even with that, he says, “Highs for a sailing haven’t been above 40 on any given departure, with most being 10-20.” Though the numbers are a big increase from last year, there’s a long way to go to meet the mode-shift targets the city laid out in the Reconnect West Seattle plan – 950 added trips per day – and also, to get close to pre-pandemic ridership (see the “data” tab here).
Following up on the West Seattle Junction public art that was defaced by racist vandalism:
(WSB photo)
Artist Desmond Hansen, commissioned by the West Seattle Junction Association to paint this box and then to fix vandalism, has repainted it with a new look. Now it’s a portrait of Dick Gregory, civil-rights activist and humorist, with a quote on the south side, and a fist – originally part of the street-facing side of the box – on its east side:
(WSB photo)
The restoration cost was $750 and donations covered the cost, WSJA executive director Lora Radford tells WSB. That same fund is covering the cost of Bob Henry‘s work restoring the Hi-Yu Parade mural on the south wall at the Junction Post Office:
(This photo and next, courtesy WSJA)
A vandal attempted to paint out Black and brown people in the crowd, as reported here last winter; Henry’s work restored them:
He also cleaned that mural and gave it a vandalism-resistant treatment. While the signal-box mural dates back to last year, the Post Office mural was one of the original West Seattle murals created ~30 years ago.
(L-R, Sam Llanillo, Gabi Meredith, Michael Smithgall, Dominique Ocaña, Koh Casaba, Henry Parker, Neizer Olivera, Peyton David Smith. Photo by Nate Watters)
Above are the members of Aurora Avenue – a band that’s not quite a year old but recently was chosen to perform in the annual regional showcase SOUND OFF! Founder Koh Casaba says it’s for “the top 12 under-21 musicians/bands in the greater Pacific Northwest.” Five members of Aurora Avenue are West Seattle High School students, and the band practices in Koh’s North Admiral front yard:
(2020 photo from Aurora Avenue’s first rehearsal)
SOUND OFF! is presented by MoPOP, which plans to stream the show two weeks from tonight – Saturday, May 15th, starting at 7 pm. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available at this link. Koh hopes West Seattleites will tune in: “I owe our success to the amazing community I was able to grow up around.” Before SOUND OFF! you can hear a sample of Aurora Avenue’s music – described as “J-Pop influenced” and “bright” – on the band’s Instagram page.
Thanks to Andrew for the photo and report from Friday evening: “Hard-fought 12-8 victory for West Seattle over Kennedy, at North SeaTac Park. Way to go, Wildcats!” Here’s a bit more about local high-school lacrosse; the WS team’s schedule is here.
Three incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch:
ROBBERY ATTEMPT WITH GUNFIRE: After a tip, we have obtained the preliminary police report about this incident that happened just after 7:30 last night in the 2100 block of Harbor Avenue SW. Police say:
The victim stated as he was traveling northbound, another vehicle was attempting to parallel park. As he drove past, he honked his horn at the suspect vehicle. The victim parked up the roadway and shortly after without warning the suspect entered the passenger side door of his vehicle. He demanded money; the victim stated he didn’t have any. As the suspect exited the vehicle, he fired one round into the passenger seat (unknown if intentional or accidental, according to the victim). The suspect then fled the scene with an unknown subject in a separate vehicle. Officers impounded the suspect vehicle …
The witness who tipped us about the incident says the vehicle that was parking was a black Tahoe, and the vehicle that the would-be robber left in was a dark silver Saturn. He described the would-be robber as white, male, 5’10”, bald, orange construction shirt, tan hat, and faded blue jeans. If you have any information, the case number is 2021-105563.
GARAGE BURGLARY: Ian reports this happened Friday afternoon at his building in the 1100 block of Alki Avenue SW:
A man broke into our building’s storage area and opened up about a dozen of the unit’s storage lockers. Ultimately he made away with two (stolen) suitcases (visible in the second photo) full of our property.
SPD case number is 2021-105338.
CAR BREAK-IN: Texted reader report:
Kblockquote>Car Prowler broke into our Ford truck on the corner of 41st Avenue Southwest and SW Austin Street. Car prowler is routinely hitting the Gatewood neighborhood. This is at least the 3rd time the truck has been broken into. They took everything in the truck (which wasn’t much and mainly old CD’s that don’t work). They made a mess inside, broke door parts, and muddy shoe prints all over the seats as if they were crawling everywhere inside. Please, we implore the Police to start patroling Gatewood for car prowlers.
We are following up for the case # on this one.
(Potter Construction ramp-building site during 2019 Rampathon)
Just about every year, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties organizes the Rampathon – local builders helping people in need of better access to their homes by building ramps, for free (500 since 1993). Longtime WSB sponsor Potter Construction participates each year and asked us to help get the word out that applications are open: “It is an amazing program that helps individuals and families in the community. Its purpose is to provide our neighbors the freedom to move about.” Applications need to be in by June 21st; here’s how to apply.
10:23 AM: Big emergency response for a crash on 35th SE between Graham and Raymond. Avoid the area.
10:36 AM: Thanks to Matthew for the photo. At least one person is reported to be injured.
12:10 PM: Scene’s clear.
12:56 PM: SFD says the person who was injured is a 61-year-old woman assessed to be in stable condition when transported by AMR ambulance.
We continue spotlighting school (and other) fundraisers – here’s one from the Lafayette Elementary PTA:
Treat the special someone in your life to a beautiful Mother’s Day flower bouquet from a local farmer. In addition to helping a local flower grower, a portion of your purchase will support Lafayette Elementary PTA. For every bouquet sold, $5 will be donated back to school. For this fundraiser, we have partnered with a local Title 1 school and will be sharing our fundraising from this event.
Pick up location: 4224 Beach Drive SW. NO-CONTACT PICKUP.
PLACE YOUR ORDER BY THURSDAY, MAY 6, 3:30 pm.
PICK UP SUNDAY, MAY 9, 8:30-9:30 am
(Photo by Jerry Simmons)
Welcome to May! Here’s how it’s beginning:
TRAFFIC ALERT: As previewed here, work is starting on sidewalk improvements along the west side of West Marginal Way, between the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse and SW Idaho.
ADMIRAL JUNCTION MAILING CENTER ANNIVERSARY: 8:30 am-3 pm, stop by Admiral Junction Mailing Center (3614 California SW) to wish co-proprietors Ben and Anastasia a happy 1st anniversary of ownership. They’re offering 10 percent off everything through Monday to celebrate.
DELRIDGE GROCERY CO-OP OPEN: First day for weekly retail hours – 9:30 am-1:30 pm, 5444 Delridge Way SW. Stop in as the co-op continues working up to fully open.
COMMUNITY CLEANUP ON ALKI: Join Jessica for the monthly volunteer cleanup, 10 am-1 pm, meeting at 2452 Alki SW. Our calendar listing has info for RSVPing.
WEST SEATTLE BOAT SWAP: Human-powered watercraft and gear! At Mountain to Sound Outfitters, 3602 SW Alaska: If you’re selling, drop off your item(s) 9 am-11 am and pick up 4-5 pm; if you’re shopping, 10 am-4 pm.
DOLL PARTS COLLECTIVE’S NEW LOCATION: Noon-5 pm, official first day for Doll Parts Collective‘s new location, 4448 California SW, as previewed here.
LOW-LOW TIDE: Not as low as the past few days, but still worth a look – out to -2.3 feet just before 3 pm.
ELKS LODGE MEMBERSHIP DRIVE: 7 pm, the nearest Elks Lodge – 14006 1st Ave. S. in Burien – welcomes all visitors to a membership-drive event.
More on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar! Got something to add for a future date? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
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